Meet our Team

PREP Project Director

Karen E. Heiser, Ph.D. is the senior leader responsible for education at Nationwide Children's Hospital (NCH), one of the largest pediatric teaching hospitals in the country. She oversees the Continuing Medical Education (CME) and conferencing (20,000+ participants annually); administers 50 Graduate Medical Education(GME) programs which train 650+ residentsand fellows; and directs the Medical Leadership, Quality Improvement Essentials, Faculty Development and Fellowship Core Curriculum Programs. Dr. Heiser is administrator for Medical Clinical Informatics Education; Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and patient safety simulation (~400 sessions per year); patient and community education (24,000 participants annually), Maintenance of Certification Multispecialty Portfolio program for physicians, medical and patient/family library; and regional outreach and child care education. As Co-Director of the International Program, Dr. Heiser coordinates visits of ~50 international physician, nursing, and allied health scholars each year. Her work as Project Director for Ohio PREP Region 9 is critical to helping NCH fulfill its mission of creating optimal health for every child in our community.

PREP Project Manager

Tammy Derden, B.S.Ed., MBA, CHES is the Project Manager for the Ohio Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP). She received her Bachelor’s degree in Education from the Ohio State University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Ashland University. She has been an employee at Nationwide Children’s Hospital for her entire professional career with a focus on sexual health and nutrition. Prior to joining the Department of Education, Tammy worked for Nationwide Children’s Hospital Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition as a Program Coordinator and for the Department of Clinical Services as a Quality Management Coordinator.

PREP Education Specialist

Dana Dotson B.S.Ed., is the project education specialist for the Ohio Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP). She received her bachelor’s degree in Education with a concentration in Professional Education studies and English/Language Arts from Shawnee State University.

PREP Project Consultant

Dora Sterling, M.S.W., has worked in many child-serving settings during her forty + year career. She was a teacher for both elementary and high school students; a staff trainer for the placement staff at Franklin County Children Services; and a certified trainer of numerous evidence-based and promising practices curricula. She practiced in community mental health as a social worker and assistant director of a child guidance center as well as a planner of statewide children's mental health initiatives at the Ohio Department of Mental Health. Ms. Sterling placed youth in care as a caseworker, staffed the Public Children Services Association of Ohio in its first years and served as the state department administrator for foster care and adoption. During the time she worked at the Ohio Department of Youth Services, she supervised clinical programs within the institutions and administered grant projects for juvenile courts. She held leadership roles in the development of the Ohio Interdepartmental Cluster and the Ohio Family and Children First Council. Possessing decades of professional experience, Dora feels being a parent and grandparent of two children who were in care best informs her Ohio PREP work.

PREP Education Assistant

Annie Phannick, B.S.B.A., is the PREP program Education Assistant. Annie is a graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with two minors in Education and Accounting.